{"id":232623,"date":"2026-01-07T16:55:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T16:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/232623\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T16:55:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T16:55:12","slug":"eastenders-airs-surprise-return-of-iconic-show-villain-in-early-iplayer-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/232623\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders airs surprise return of iconic show villain in early iPlayer release"},"content":{"rendered":"

EastEnders<\/a> spoilers follow for Wednesday\u2019s episode (7 January), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn\u2019t yet aired on TV.<\/p>\n

EastEnders has aired the surprise return of villain Nish Panesar in horrifying scenes with his son Ravi Gulati<\/a>. Nish died in dramatic scenes last year at the wedding of Suki and Eve Panesar-Unwin, but he has now made a shocking return in an unexpected way\u2026<\/p>\n

Since Ravi\u2019s return to the Square, Harry and Nicola have plotted to take revenge on him<\/a>, as payback for the hell he put Harry and Kojo through as part of his illegal drugs operation.<\/p>\n

The Mitchells don\u2019t realise that Ravi has stayed out of prison by agreeing to become a police informant, so have hatched a plan to spike his drink and give him a taste of his own medicine.<\/p>\n

Oblivious Ravi was left disappointed in today’s episode<\/a> when he discovered that Suki didn\u2019t want him at her and Eve\u2019s latest adoption meeting, not wanting him to harm their chances of getting a child.<\/p>\n

\"ravi<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Nicola told a struggling Harry that the delivery of dangerous drugs had arrived, so they were ready to pounce when Ravi came into Harry\u2019s Barn for a drink.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, Ravi lied to Priya and told her that he was helping Vinny with some business but instead headed to the bar to drown his sorrows. <\/p>\n

Ravi had an honest chat with grieving Patrick, while Nicola spotted her opportunity and let Harry know that it was time to strike. She put lethal drugs in Ravi\u2019s drink, and Harry watched in the shadows as he downed the dangerous potion.<\/p>\n

\"ravi<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders sets up new Max Branning connection – but there’s heartbreak ahead<\/a><\/p>\n

Later, Ravi staggered out of the bar in a vulnerable state, where Harry cornered him and pushed him into the pit in the garage.<\/p>\n

Harry began to torture frightened Ravi, but Billy then arrived at the garage and invited him round for a takeaway. With no choice but to go with Billy, Harry left Ravi in the pit alone \u2013 and Ravi began to experience terrifying hallucinations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Priya realised that Ravi wasn\u2019t where he said he was, so she, Vinny and Nugget headed out to search for him around the Square.<\/p>\n

\"nish<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders star breaks silence on Max’s flashforward mysteries<\/a><\/p>\n

But Ravi continued to struggle and started hearing voices \u2013 and seeing one familiar face. “There is no help here, son,” said the voice of evil Nish<\/a>, and Ravi screamed at his ghostly reunion with his dad.<\/p>\n

Actor Navin Chowdhry appears in the credits of today\u2019s episode as the voice of Nish, but could he appear properly in tomorrow\u2019s instalment?<\/p>\n

EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.<\/p>\n

Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast<\/a> from Inside Soap magazine. This week’s episode<\/a> reacts to the biggest twists from the Corriedale crossover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EastEnders spoilers follow for Wednesday\u2019s episode (7 January), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1105,118833,1107,93,61,60,1135,118832,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-232623","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-12ea8db9-37ae-4e66-9e77-33dd32bf1bb6","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-locale-gb","15":"tag-shorttitle-eastenders-airs-surprise-return-of-iconic-villain","16":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}